NFL Combine Preview: Inside Linebackers
GREEN BAY, Wis -
The Green Bay Packers are switching to a 4-3 base defense this offseason under Jeff Hafley.
That might not mean much as Hafley, Brian Gutekunst, and Matt LaFleur have all pointed out, the league rarely plays in their base defenses.
While that's true, the Packers linebacker position is still in flux.
Quay Walker will be entrenched as one of the team's primary linebackers, although what position is to be determined as Hafley is still analyzing the pieces he has to fit his defense.
Apart from Walker, there's Isaiah McDuffie who has experience playing under Hafley but has struggled to stay healthy any time he's received extended snaps.
Everything else is a question mark. De'Vondre Campbell has failed to recapture the form that made him an All-Pro in 2021. The Packers could move on from him this offseason and continue a youth movement that swept across most of the team a season ago.
Even if Campbell is brought back, the Packers will likely need to add a body or two to their linebacker corps.
Here are some of the guys that will be working out in Indianapolis, with a full list here.
Michael Barrett, Michigan
Resume: 84.3 overall grade; 74.3 run defense grade; 72.0 coverage grade; Barrett 35 run stops with two pass breakups in 2023 for the Wolverines to go with three sacks.
How He Fits:
Barrett often liked to say that he was not in the talking business, but the a** kicking business, and that business was booming.
Business was booming for Barrett during his six-year tenure at Michigan. Barrett's career as a starter began with a bang, as he had a sack-fumble that was returned for a touchdown against Minnesota in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
Barrett was one of the captains of the 2023 national champions, and a special teams stalwart. He's also a former high school quarterback. Barrett's impact if he were drafted would likely be in the back of the linebacker room and on special teams where he played 634 snaps at Michigan.
Brugler Ranking: Unranked
JD Bertrand, Notre Dame
Resume: 82.4 overall grade; 77.5 run defense grade; 63.0 tackling grade; 70.5 coverage grade; Bertrand had 31 run stops for the Fighting Irish, while allowing 12 completions on 20 attempts in coverage with two pass breakups and zero interceptions.
How He Fits:
Bertrand is short at 6-foot-1 and weighs 233 pounds. Bertrand is just under 15 pounds lighter than Quay Walker, which means he'd likely slot in as a sub-package linebacker as opposed to an every-down player.
The Packers need both of those things, but Bertrand would have to prove his meddle on special teams, where Rich Bisaccia will likely have Eric Wilson as a standout in that spot.
Brugler Ranking: Unranked
Tatum Bethune, Florida State
Resume: 76.0 overall grade; 73.6 run defense grade; 73.5 coverage grade; 60.2 tackling grade; Bethune had 30 run stops in 2023, and allowed a 50 percent completion percentage against him with one interception and two pass breakups.
How He Fits:
Bethune would likely be looked at as a coverage linebacker, which is a place Green Bay has struggled. Quay Walker had a few splash plays last year but was inconsistent from down-to-down. If the Packers are looking for more consistency and depth in that role, Bethune could be a candidate for them to find some steadiness at linebacker.
Brugler Ranking: Unranked
Aaron Casey, Indiana
Resume: 63.9 overall grade; 70.9 run defense grade; 52.4 tackling grade; 48.2 coverage grade; Casey piled up 53 run stops in 13 games in 2023. He had 110 stops with 89 of them coming in his two years as a preferred starter for the Hoosiers.
How He Fits:
Casey is an old-school run-stuffing linebacker that the Packers could have a place for on their defense. The team's hope when they paired Quay Walker and De'Vondre Campbell was to have two three-down linebackers that allowed them to play their base defense against passing offenses.
That hasn't happened, which means the Packers will likely have to mix and match more at that position. Using Casey as a run-stopper could be an option for them.
A potential issue with that is Casey struggled in pass coverage, allowing a passer rating of 120.9 against him.
Brugler Ranking: Unranked
Steele Chambers, Ohio State
Resume: 63.3 overall grade; 55.5 run defense grade; 75.3 tackling grade; 77.4 coverage grade. Chambers allowed a passer rating against him of 81.0 with one interception and one pass breakup in 2023.
How He Fits:
Chambers is not as decorated as his teammate Tommy Eichenberg, but he was a key contributor to Ohio State's defense under Jim Knowles.
If Chambers got his arms around the player, they went down. He missed 10 tackles in 2023 and had a missed tackle percentage of his career 12 percent.
Chambers' ability in coverage could be attractive to the team as well as they look for more consistency from their middle-of-the-field pass defenders.
Brugler Ranking: Unranked
Junior Colson Michigan
Resume: 81.7 overall grade; 80.0 run defense grade; 90.2 tackling grade; 83.4 coverage grade; Colson was one of the top players on Michigan's stingy defense that powered them to a national championship. He had 36 run stops and a missed tackle percentage of 4.7 in 2023.
How He Fits:
The Packers are likely in the market for another starting-caliber linebacker with De'Vondre Campbell's future up in the air. Even if Campbell is back, they'll need an heir to that throne.
Colson would likely start alongside Quay Walker and Campbell when the Packers were in their base defense, with hopes that he and Walker would grow together to form a dynamic tandem at linebacker.
Brugler Ranking: 39
Junior Colson bring down Isaiah Bond.
Kirby Lee - USA Today
Edgerrin Cooper, Texas A&M
Resume: 90.8 overall grade; 87.6 run defense grade; 86.4 pass rush grade; 85.5 coverage grade; Cooper, one of the more athletic linebackers in the class had a whopping 56 stops in 2023 which was an improvement from 29 stops in 2022.
How He Fits:
Cooper's athleticism is readily apparent on his game tape. The prospect of pairing Cooper and Quay Walker together for the foreseeable future has a potentially massive upside if both players were to reach their potential.
Cooper has some of the same run-and-hit capabilities that Walker does.
Cooper has an opportunity to rise up draft boards with a big week in Indianapolis.
Brugler Ranking: 42
Tommy Eichenberg, Ohio State
Resume: 61.5 overall grade; 66.6 run defense grade; 52.8 coverage grade; Eichenberg was the heartbeat of Ohio State's stingy defense, and had 31 stops and only eight missed tackles in 2023.
How He Fits:
Eichenberg would be a traditional throwback linebacker due to some of his struggles in coverage. He's solid defending the run, but struggles to cover receivers down the field, which could get exposed in a league where tight ends and slot receivers are faster than ever.
That being said, Eichenberg is tough as nails, and has value on the team as an early down defender, who could also give them a boost on special teams.
Brugler Ranking: 74
Jaylan Ford, Texas
Resume: 67.2 overall grade; 80.2 run defense grade; 50.0 coverage grade; Ford had 48 run stops and one forced fumble in 2023. Ford had 133 stops in his four-year career including 53 during the 2022 season.
How He Fits:
Ford could fit in the back half of the linebacker room behind Quay Walker while potentially giving some competition to Isaiah McDuffie for snaps as a reserve linebacker.
Ford's ability against the run makes him a potentially valuable role player as the Packers attempt to improve their perenially dreadful run defense.
Brugler Ranking: Unranked
Cedric Gray, North Carolina
Resume: 74.0 overall grade; 62.7 run defense grade; 78.0 coverage grade; 60.8 tackling grade; Gray is an effective blitzer with five sacks on 21 pressures in 13 games a season ago to go with 54 run stops. His coverage ability showed up as well with three pass breakups and an interception.
How He Fits:
Gray has the athleticism to play next to Quay Walker and allow the Packers to dream about the tandem they envisioned when they put Walker next to De'Vondre Campbell.
One potential bugaboo for Gray at the next level is his tackling ability. Gray missed 19 tackles in 13 games and 57 tackles for his career at North Carolina. The Packers are putting an added emphasis on physicality, one of the ways to be physical is to be a sound tackling team. Gray would need to improve there.
Brugler Ranking: Unranked
Curtis Jacobs, Penn State
Resume: 63.9 overall grade; 55.8 run defense grade; 61.8 tackling grade; 64.9 coverage grade. Jacobs is a bit of a blitzing specialist, grading out at 77.1 according to PFF in pass rush opportunities. He had 13 pressures and three sacks for the Nittany Lions a season ago to go with his 24 run stops.
How He Fits:
Jacobs could add some interesting wrinkles as a Will linebacker in Jeff Hafley's 4-3 scheme.
Jacobs' ability as a pass rusher makes for some interesting concepts the defensive coaching staff could draw up with Quay Walker as a blitzer as well.
Jacobs looks to be a Day 3 pick at this stage of the draft process, which might be where the Packers could take someone at the back of their linebacker room to develop.
Brugler Ranking: Unranked
Marist Liufau, Notre Dame
Resume: 74.3 overall grade; 66.5 run defense grade; 84.1 coverage grade. Liufau is a coverage specialist, allowing only 6.2 yards per reception in the 11 pass attempts that came into his coverage area. He was penalized twice in 2023, and five times in his three-year career.
How He Fits:
The Packers have liked having role players in coverage in the past. Players like Joe Thomas or Morgan Burnett as a linebacker come to mind.
They've moved away from that as they added De'Vondre Campbell and Quay Walker, but with Campbell's future up in the air, they could look for another role player to be a coverage specialist.
Even if Campbell returns to the team, he was rotating snaps a year ago with Isaiah McDuffie by the time the season ended.
Liufau could fit at the back of their linebacker room with the potential to contribute on special teams, where he played 335 snaps at Notre Dame.
Brugler Ranking: Unranked
Jordan Magee, Temple
Resume: 87.2 overall grade; 90.7 pass rush grade; 79.1 run defense grade; 79.8 coverage grade; Ther versatile linebacker piled up 20 pressures and six sacks in 12 games for the Aggies in 2023; In coverage he allowed an 86.7 passer rating against him with two pass breakups and only 7.1 yards per completion against him.
How He Fits:
Magee is another versatlie linebacker that moved between the middle and Will linebacker in Texas A&M's defense.
That afforded him more opportunities to catch opposing offenses by surprised, but when he got near the quarterback, they usually ended up on the ground.
Quay Walker has had some nice moments as a blitzer in his young career, and could potentially benefit from adding someone that is equally as proficient in that role.
Magee could end up making an impact there without requiring the usage of an early pick.
Brugler Ranking: Unranked
Darius Muasau, UCLA
Resume: 81.7 overall grade; 85.7 coverage grade; 72.8 pass rush grade 74.3 run defense grade. Muasau had 38 stops and four sacks on 18 pressures in 2023. He totaled 16 sacks for his career, and five interceptions as a coverage specialist. Muasau spent three years at Hawaii before transferring to UCLA to play his final two seasons of college football.
How He Fits
Muasau allowed only 8.8 yards per reception in his college career, and graded out well according to PFF in coverage.
That's likely the role the Packers would be asking him to fill if they drafted him.
Muasau is undersized, listed at 230 pounds, so the Packers could ask him to add some weight, and almost every player needs to add functional strength coming out of college.
There's a chance with his body type and coverage prowess that Muasau could be looked at as a potential special teamer for Rich Bisaccia.
Brugler Ranking: Unranked
Maema Niongmeta, Wisconsin
Resume: 76.2 overall grade; 67.7 run defense grade; 73.4 pass rush grade; 75.5 coverage grade; Niongmeta is a linebacker who spent most of his time playing in the box. He had 32 run stops and only allowed a completion percentage against him of 58.3 percent.
How He Fits:
Niongmeta fits in a similar mold to the way that Leo Chenal or other linebackers who have come out of Wisconsin. Niongmeta is not the athlete that Chenal was, but he could play on run-downs in the NFL.
Niongmeta did play well in coverage in his final season for the Badgers, allowing a passer rating against him of 78.8, so he could potentially survive on passing downs as well in the ever-evolving landscape of NFL offenses.
Brugler Ranking: Unranked
Jeremiah Trotter Jr, Clemson
Resume: 85.7 overall grade; 80.4 run defense grade; 82.0 coverage grade; 78.7 pass rush grade; The son of the former Philadelphia Eagles' standout, Jeremiah Trotter Jr had 88 run stops and 53 pressures in his three year career at Clemson. That includes 14 sacks and a passer rating against him of 70.2 in three seasons.
How He Fits:
Trotter may be seen as one of the more well-rounded linebackers in this draft class.
He's shown the ability to play against both run and pass, it's just a matter of how those skills could translate from the ACC to the NFL.
Trotter finding himself inside Dane Brugler's Top-100 means it's likely Green Bay would have to use one of their five picks in the first three rounds on him.
If they were to select him, he'd be in line to start next to Quay Walker and De'Vondre Campbell or Isaiah McDuffie, depending on what the Packers do at linebacker for the rest of the offseason.
Brugler Ranking: 99
Nathaniel Watson, Mississippi State
Resume: 72.4 overall grade; 70.6 run defense grade; 90.0 tackling grade; 74.3 pass rush grade; Watson was a tackling machine at Mississippi, and totaled 46 run stops in 2023 with 141 in his six-year career. He piled up 220 total tackles, and only missed seven percent of his tackle attempts.
How He Fits:
Watson fits on this team because of his tackling ability alone. Watson only missed seven percent of his tackles throughout his college career.
For comparison sake, Quay Walker was at 7.6 percent, and De'Vondre Campbell was at 9.9 in 2023.
Campbell may not be around, but Watson is likely a Day 3 pick at linebacker, which has him relegated to competing with Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson, assuming he's re-signed, at the back of the linebacker room for reps.
Brugler Ranking: Unranked
Payton Wilson, NC State
Resume: 89.9 overall grade; 83.7 run defense grade; 90.4 coverage grade; Wilson the coverage specialist allowed a passer rating of 47.2 in 2023 with three interceptions and three pass breakups. That added to his total of seven interceptions and 10 pass breakups in his career. Wilson's coverage prowess is likely the best in this class for linebackers.
How He Fits:
Wilson's fit from a coverage standpoint is interesting in Green Bay. He's around the same size as Quay Walker with Wilson measuring in at 6-foot-4, 238 pounds.
Walker measures in at 6-foot-4, 240 pounds.
Walker was someone the Packers loved during his draft process, so it's easy to envision them falling in love with Wilson as well.
If Wilson were drafted, he'd likely be asked to play a significant role early in his career. His coverage abilities would be an immense help as the Packers try and improve their defense in the middle of the field.
Brugler Ranking: 77
